Solar Storms Hit Earth !!

[T'Aniz Jozef 0]

:D Please forgive me if this is not in keeping with STSF's mode of using the Boards. But the recent spate of solar storms sounds like something right out of Star Trek: ANY SERIES. This somewhat lengthy quote is from the website: www.space.com . It really got me thinking...the fires in California make us a national village...and the solar flare storms make us a global village. Playing these simms has made me seek expanding my knowledge of astronomy and related sciences...can't go saying gobble-de-gook forever! If anyone knows another good site for learning about the sciences we simm, I'd sure love to hear about it!! Anyway....here's the long quote:

 

World Series of solar storms

 

The salvo Thursday was generated by an X10 solar flare. In this classification scheme, all X-flares are "major," and the associated number ranks severity. An X17 flare on Oct. 28 fueled the strongest storm of the series and was among the four most powerful to hit Earth in recorded history.

 

Both storms reached G5, the highest level possible on a scale of geomagnetic activity.

 

None of the events this month achieved the power of the granddaddy of all space storms, an 1859 space hurricane that experts say was at least three times as intense as the X17 of Oct. 28.

 

Nonetheless, the activity surprised solar physicists, largely because they'd never seen two flares of such magnitude strike back-to-back.

 

Both flares also generated strong surges of protons, which arrived after the initial radiation, forcing residents of the International Space Station to retreat to the most well-protected module of the orbiting outpost several times during the week.

 

Each flare then hurled coronal mass ejections, or clouds of charged particles, at Earth. Not all flares generate all three events with such force. The CMEs each took about 19 hours to reach Earth, much less time than the typical two days required for a storm to traverse the 93 million miles.

 

"Two such powerful flares, with a proton event, and very fast coronal mass ejections and both directly [aimed] towards the Earth in two days, is very rare," Brekke said. "I have never heard of this before."

 

In addition, four earlier outbursts, beginning Oct. 22, gained minimal X-class rankings, still more severe than most other solar activity during the past several months. The Sun's surface remains volatile, and this remarkable October series could yet go to a seventh game, forecasters warn.

 

Again, I apologize in advance if this is NOT what we do with the Boards. But this ...historic...solar flare series has fascinated me. Please share whatever other sites you have found useful for learning the Star Trek sciences, as they apply in RL for us.... :rolleyes:

[Dumbass 0]

I don't think anyone would mind you posting something like that here. It's a lot closer to Star Trek than some of the things people post.

[Nemesis 0]

It made the sky so pretty and such lucky enough to see the northern lights you hand to stand upside down and swint your eyes but you could see them :rolleyes:

[Tovan 0]

wooo hoo get to look at neutrinos, don't blink :rolleyes:

[T'Aniz Jozef 0]

First: NEWS ALLERT !! Saturday, Nov. 8th, there will be an eclipse of the moon. East Coast (Canada & USA) residents will get the best view. See www.nasa.com for detail, among other places.

 

Second: this information is fascinating: 1859:Worst Solar Storm in Recorded History. Telegraph was only 15 years old. The solar flares were so mighty they knocked out the power supply for the telegraph. Then, the solar flares themselves powered the telegraph. I dunno...but this sounds like a great time travel plot...imagine a starship getting caught up in solar flares and then thrown back in time to 1859...it has potential...any GM's overhearing? :)

 

Here is a highly edited (by me) report of the 1859 storm. The complete report, and other fascinating stuff, can be found at: www.space.com

 

/////\\\\\/////\\\\\/////\\\\\/////\\\\\/////\\\\\/////\\\\\/////\\\\\

The Great Storm: Solar Tempest of 1859 Revealed

 

A pair of strong solar storms that hit Earth late last week were squalls compared to the torrent of electrons that rained down in the "perfect space storm" of 1859. And sooner or later, experts warn, the Sun will again conspire again send earthlings a truly destructive bout of space weather. If it happens anytime soon, we won't know exactly what to expect until it's over, and by then some modern communication systems could be like beachfront houses after a hurricane.

 

In early September in 1859, telegraph wires suddenly shorted out in the United States and Europe, igniting widespread fires. Colorful aurora, normally visible only in polar regions, were seen as far south as Rome and Hawaii.

 

The event 144 years ago was three times more powerful than the strongest space storm in modern memory, one that cut power to an entire Canadian province in 1989. A new account of the 1859 event, from research led by Bruce Tsurutani of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, details the most powerful onslaught of solar energy in recorded history.

 

Solar conspiracy

 

Space storms are created when the Sun erupts, sending charged particles racing outward, an expanding bubble of hot gas called plasma. In 1859, four crucial events conspired at one moment, Tsurutani told SPACE.com.

 

"The plasma blob that was ejected from the Sun hit the Earth," he said. That's a relatively routine event. What preceded the strike was more unusual. "The blob came at exceptionally high speeds. It took only 17 hours and 40 minutes to go from the Sun to Earth." Solar storms typically take two to four days to traverse the 93 million miles (150 million kilometers).

 

"The magnetic fields in the blob, called a coronal mass ejection, were exceptionally intense," Tsurutani said. "And the fourth, most important, ingredient was that the magnetic fields of the blob were opposite in direction from the Earth's fields."

 

Earth's magnetic field normally protects the surface of the planet from a continual flow of charged particles, called the solar wind, and even does a pretty good job defending against some storms. When a storm swept past Earth last Friday, it met up with magnetic field pointed in such a way that it thwarted the storm's effects. That's not always the case.

 

In 1859, the planet's defenses were overwhelmed.

 

That was then …

 

Society back then did not notice the storm the way it would today. The telegraph was 15 years old. There were no satellite TV feeds, no automated teller machines relying on orbiting relay stations, and no power grids.

 

Tsurutani said scientists can't yet accurately measure or predict what the strength or direction of Earth's magnetic field will be when a storm arrives. The storms themselves can be predicted. And Tsurutani says there will eventually be another one like 1859.

 

"It could very well be even more intense than what transpired in 1859," he says. "As for when, we simply do not know." ... ... During the 1859 flare-up, solar observers logged almost an entire minute during which the amount of sunlight doubled at the region of the flare.

 

A strong storm does its damage in part by inducing currents on power and communication lines, leading to potential overloads. Obviously, there are a lot more wires on Earth today, "so one might expect much worse problems if it occurred today."

 

 

This article is part of SPACE.com's weekly Mystery Monday series. :)

[T'Aniz Jozef 0]

V'GER LEAVES SOLAR SYSTEM!!

NEXT STOP: MACHINE PLANET

 

Voyager I was launched in 1977. It is beginning to cross the rim of our solar system. It is going where no man-made object has gone before ...

 

The following is edited, from an article found in www.astronomy.com ::

 

--------------------------- begin edited article ------------------------

SCIENCE NEWS

SPACE MISSIONS

 

To boldly go where no spacecraft has gone before

As the most distant manmade object, Voyager 1 has reached the edge of the solar system and is providing scientists with clues about this mysterious region. by Jeremy McGovern

 

Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 explored Saturn and Jupiter.

 

In 1977, Voyagers 1 and 2 launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a mission to study the solar system's gas giants. Following successful observations of Jupiter and Saturn in 1979 and 1980, Voyager 1 continued toward the outer reaches of the solar system. Now more than 8 billion miles (13 billion kilometers) away from Earth, Voyager 1 has provided scientists with a view of a mysterious region of space.

 

Between August 1, 2002, and February 5, 2003, mission scientists detected curious readings from instruments aboard the spacecraft. Upon review, the data showed Voyager 1 had entered a section of the solar system unlike any previously encountered.

 

“Voyager 1 is giving us our first taste of interstellar space,” says Stamatios Krimigis of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. “This is our first direct look at the incredibly dynamic activity in the solar system’s outer limits.”

 

While Voyager 1 certainly has entered an unfamiliar area in the solar system, interpretations vary about the craft’s exact location.

 

Not nearly as far away from Earth as its twin, Voyager 2 is moving southward through the solar system. Voyager 2 should provide more detail concerning the termination shock because its solar-wind tool is functioning properly. Both spacecraft have the potential to continue operating until 2020.

 

xxxxxxxxxx End of edited article from www.astronomy.com of 11/07/2003 :) xxxxxx

[Anika818 0]

You got some really cool stuff here. And alas I also knew about the lunar eclipse, but it was too cloudy here ::sniff, sniff:: oh well, maybe next october.

:)

 

I like the science info, so I don't mind if you keep posting it :)

[T'Aniz Jozef 0]

Weird Lights

 

Submitted for your consideration...mother nature...in her stranger moments :) The following quote is taken from www.firstscience.com

---------------------------------------------------- quote from www.firstscience.com-----

Great Balls of Fire

 

In June 1996 a sphere of light the size of a tennis ball flew into a printing factory in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. A dozen workers looked up in astonishment as the blue and white ball whizzed round inside, spinning along girders, hitting print machinery, sending sparks flying. Finally it hit a window and exploded with an orange flash and a tremendous bang, knocking out the telephone switchboard. "The whole place was lit up," said Simon Pocock, one of the staff. "The sparks were unbelievable - it was like a horror movie." Three people received electric shocks, one lady was hit in the shoulder.

 

Thousands of people all over the world have reported seeing mysterious glowing balls of light gliding inside their homes and even inside aircraft. They vary in size from a golfball to a football, in a variety of iridescent colours, with little noise, no smell and generally disappear by hitting television sets or other electrical fittings with a pop. In the most violent cases, glowing balls have exploded into flames and set houses ablaze. It's a phenomenon called "ball lightning". It usually come during thunderstorms, but no one knows what it is except that it's an electrical freak of nature. Ball lightning might even help explain "Foo Fighters". In World War II many pilots reported glowing balls of light flying alongside their aircraft. They thought it was some sort of secret enemy weapon, but German and Allied pilots both experienced the same phenomenon. To this day the lights remain a complete mystery.

 

We know that thunderstorms can put on some other very weird light displays. In olden days mariners often saw the tops of their ship masts glow as thunderstorms developed. They called it "St Elmo's fire", and its eerie light comes from the intense static electricity streaming up tall objects and discharging as a glowing corona. One of the most fantastic displays in recent times was in 1976 when many of the players at a school football match in Dover, England found their heads glowing and understandably abandoned their game! In itself St Elmo's isn't dangerous but it often appears just before a lightning strike, so if you do experience it, it might be wise to get out of the area as soon as possible.

 

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[T'Aniz Jozef 0]

Summer Camp for High School Astronomers !

Makes me wish I were back in high school... ...ah...maybe not...but if I were... :)

 

This is from: www.astronomy.com and they have the info on where to apply...

=================== from www.astronomy.com ==========

Astronomy Summer School

Summer Science Program hosts advanced high school students interested in astronomy.

 

While most high school students try to avoid summer school, others will be vying for limited positions at one particular program. Operating since 1959, the Summer Science Program (SSP) is designed for academically gifted students interested in astronomy. Originally housed in Ojai, California, the SSP opens a new phase this year with expansion to a second campus at New Mexico Tech at Socorro, New Mexico.

 

"The big news this year for the Summer Science program is the second site at New Mexico Tech," says Richard Bowdon, executive director of the SSP. "This will make it possible for more students to attend since it will be easier for some parents to send their children to a program closer to home."

 

The six-week residential program will host up to 36 students at each campus. The curriculum is developed around a standard astronomy project — observation and orbital calculations of an asteroid. With in-class lectures and assignments accompanied with outdoor observations, the SSP will develop students' knowledge not only in astronomy, but physics, mathematics, and computer programming as well. The program also promotes cooperation and teamwork, with students working together during observing sessions. Students will not receive formal credit or grades for participation, but final results from each team will be archived at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

--------------------------------------------------------- end quotation -------------

[Anika818 0]

Since this seems to be the info page :ph34r: ...

 

The leonid showers are started on the 13 of November. The peak of the showers are to be this next week B)

 

Hopefully,depending on where you live, it won't be too cloudy or cold, and hopefully there will be a beautiful show. :D

 

Enjoy everyone :o

[ens_tino 0]

Each time we have a meteor shower its been really cloudy where I live.

[T'Aniz Jozef 0]

TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE: SUNDAY 11/23

Live WEBCAST !! (4:00 pm East Coast Time)

 

There will be a total eclipse of the sun this Sunday. While the eclipse will be visible only in Antarctia, it will also be visible on the web! This is actually a good deal, as looking straight at an eclipse can destroy one's vision. (It burns the retina? Any ship doctors here know??) Link to Live-Eclipse.org for the live webcast (use the hyperlink). The article below (edited mercilessly by me :) ) is from www.space.com

==============================

Live Webcast of Sunday's Solar Eclipse

By SPACE.com Staff

posted: 07:00 am ET 21 November 2003

 

A total solar eclipse visible only from Antarctica Sunday will be webcast live by a nonprofit Japanese organization called Live! Universe. Pictures of the eclipse will be available on SPACE.com by Monday morning, assuming all goes well with a separate airborne expedition of astronomers and eclipse fanatics.

 

A partial eclipse will be visible from Australia and New Zealand. But the total eclipse will be seen in person -- weather permitting -- by only a handful of venturesome explorers, self-avowed eclipse fanatics.

 

Meanwhile, armchair astronomers around the world can watch the webcast, if all goes well. It is the first attempted observation of a total solar eclipse from the Antarctic since human beings set up a base there, the organization said in a statement released this week. It is also the first attempt to webcast a total solar eclipse from the Antarctic.

 

The webcast begins at 4 p.m. ET (2100 UT) on Sunday, Nov. 23. In Japan, that corresponds to 6 a.m. local time on Nov. 24.

 

The web site, at http://www.live-eclipse.org/ , includes reports from the observation party, a travel journal, and information about the eclipse. On eclipse day, the site will also list the temperature, illuminance and barometric pressure information from the scene.

 

A visual simulation of the Moon's shadow, as seen from above the Antarctic, will allow site visitors to see how big and how fast the lunar shadow moves across Earth. Solar eclipses are caused when the Moon is directly between Earth and the Sun.

 

A second observation party led by Live! Universe will take images of the total solar eclipse from an airplane (airborne astrophotography) and add the images to the website a few hours later.

============ end of report / hailing frequencies closed ===== :)

[Nemesis 0]

Darn it I'll be at a movie then gosh fiddling darn it